The display of data in a meaningful and easily interpretable way to users presents a number of technical challenges, particularly to interface designers. The Information Age is making increasing demands on users quickly to receive, process, interpret and act on ever more volumes of data, both in the performance of job functions and other day to day activities. In particular, the presentation of complex information in a manner that is readily discernible and easily interpretable presents technical challenges to interface designers.
Another challenge facing interface designers is the increased adoption of mobile computing devices, such as mobile telephones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Such mobile devices typically have small screens and are used in a wide variety of lighting conditions. Usage patterns for such mobile devices may differ greatly from the desktop experience. Further, users of mobile computing devices tend to be task-oriented and may have less time to view and interpret data. Considering, for example, traditional financial data visualizations, such visualizations tend to be large scale and require significant time on the part of users to interpret the data, and draw conclusions therefrom.